Teachers Mutual Bank is a customer-owned financial institution based in Australia, primarily serving members in the education sector and their families. The bank offers a range of financial products including high-interest savings accounts, low-interest loans, and competitive fees, designed to help members manage their finances effectively. With a commitment to ethical banking, Teachers Mutual Bank emphasizes social and environmental performance, making it a preferred choice for individuals seeking a responsible banking option. Targeting under-30s and university students, Teachers Mutual Bank provides specialized savings products such as the Starter Saver account, which offers attractive interest rates for eligible members. As a mutual bank, members benefit from shared profits, ensuring they receive competitive rates and personalized services. The bank is dedicated to building wealth for its members while supporting community initiatives and sustainable practices.
Reviewers frequently report negative experiences with Teachers Mutual Bank, citing customer pain points more often than praise. Common complaints include bank, service, business, account.
A smaller set of reviewers mention positives such as experience, bank, service, vincent. Overall sentiment is predominantly negative based on 23 reviews and an average rating of 1.9 stars.
Summary generated with AI from recent reviews
Each source counts by its number of reviews. Only reviews written by people are scored.
| Source | Rating | Reviews | Weight | 6-mo | Fake risk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Trustpilot Imported Trustpilot reviews | 1.9 | 23 | 100% | ● Low |
Monthly average rating from reviews written by people · latest review Jul 2025.
| Month | Average | Reviews |
|---|---|---|
| Dec 24 | 1.0 | 1 |
| Jan 25 | 1.0 | 1 |
| Feb 25 | 1.0 | 1 |
| Mar 25 | — | 0 |
| Apr 25 | 1.0 | 1 |
| May 25 | — | 0 |
| Jun 25 | 5.0 | 1 |
| Jul 25 | 1.0 | 2 |
Share of positive (4–5★) and negative (1–2★) reviews mentioning each topic · based on the 23 most recent reviews.
“I called TM Bank several times to inquire about their credit card and also when submitting the application”
“Sent an increase cc email - ring after a week supposedly they haven't received it”
Same method for every company: overall rating, legitimacy checks, the average rating of reviews mentioning each area and the 6-month trend · Finance & Insurance.
| Company | Overall | Legit | Service | Value | Website & app | Trend | Reviews |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1.9 out of 5 (poor) | 100 out of 100 | 1.8 out of 5 (poor) | 1.3 out of 5 (poor) | 1.5 out of 5 (poor) | — | 23 |
| 4.2 out of 5 (good) | 100 out of 100 | 3.3 out of 5 (fair) | — | 3.0 out of 5 (fair) | — | 1,200 | |
| 4.7 out of 5 (good) | 100 out of 100 | 4.7 out of 5 (good) | 4.7 out of 5 (good) | 4.6 out of 5 (good) | — | 1,060 | |
| 4.8 out of 5 (good) | 100 out of 100 | 4.9 out of 5 (good) | 4.7 out of 5 (good) | 4.7 out of 5 (good) | — | 1,060 | |
| 4.8 out of 5 (good) | 100 out of 100 | 4.7 out of 5 (good) | 3.9 out of 5 (good) | 4.0 out of 5 (good) | — | 1,060 |
Bottom line: Teachers Mutual Bank is #5 of 5 on overall rating in this group. On value, Frontier Home Insurance scores higher (4.7 vs 1.3).
23 reviews of Teachers Mutual Bank. Filter by what matters to you.
Sent an increase cc email - ring after a week supposedly they haven't received it... Its the correct email address so now someone has all my personal information. Closing all accounts.
If you want to be left completely stuck in a foreign country, without the capacity to pay for anything, then you should definitely get the TMB credit card. Every time I go overseas they block it. They say it is live chat on their website but it takes days for them to reply to my messages to get it unblocked. Then they just reblock it a couple of days later, and it starts all over again. Is this the world's worst credit card? It is if you want to travel anywhere but Australia, it definitely is!
25 minutes … still on hold… When the recorded blurb at the start of your call warns members to be pleasant to their staff you know something is wrong with the business! Change banks now, make a stand for client service!
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How do they benefit teachers? I honestly dont know what they do for me that other banks dont. My fixed rate is about to fun out, they have advised me of this with 10 days to go, so no time to organise refinance elsewhere without copping a fee. The guy I spoke to sounded like an uneducated moron, and kept going over the same thing. I have found their customer service to be lacking, their phone automated service to be lacking and no benefit to me whatsoever. I am currently looking at other banking options, after factoring in discharge fees and so forth, I hope I can rid my hands of them.
Purchased a 2013 Hyundai iX35 from Suttons Chullora through Teachers Mutual Bank Car Buying Service. I paid$1K to the Car buying service to research and find the best/reliable vehicle for me and the balance of the cost of the vehicle was paid to Suttons. Unfortunately the vehicle I was sold was on a known class action list for dodgy motors. (At the time of sale). It was sold to me with no disclosure. The motor has had a catastrophic breakdown shortly after purchase and the Dealer refuses to refund, fix or even assist with a claim through Hyundai. Both Dealer and Car Buyers Agent claim they knew nothing of any issues with Hyundai cars. There’s thousands of Hyundais and Kia’s affected and all of these vehicles have been recalled now in the USA. The Car Buying Agent/Service has not done their due diligence when researching the vehicle for me. This vehicle should never have been sold to a customer of a bank. Now I am not covered apparently for this issue. Why do we bother paying Car Buying Agents then? Absolutely disgusted with the service and will never use both companies again. My family of teachers will also be pulling out of Teachers Mutual Bank and won’t be using the car buying service anymore as well. We are done. Worst service ever.
I spent a whole afternoon being flipped from department to department. The phone kept dropping out. I had 7 long waits before finally figuring out to shout "fraud". When I eventually spoke to a real person - Mamon then Hamad they were excellent. Very apologetic and helpful. I suspect they had endured it all before. This bank has gone to the pack. I will be transferring to a local institution where I can walk in the door and sit down with a real person. It will be quicker, even though I have a 45 minute drive, and FAR less stressful.
Corrupt Bank! This Bank is a Scam. Be Careful. Avoid
I am warning everyone, do not use them. They are blocking all my transactions, I can't spend it withdraw from my account. I have called several times been disconnected several times. I was finally assured the transactions would be processed but they weren't. If it wasn't a big company I'd say I have been scammed. Days later still can't get my money out . Do not use
I went with a home loan from TMB. A helpful gentleman came to the house and went through the details and arranged the loan. The deal was that there would be an offset account and no fees. They were the main things I asked and checked numerous times before signing up. A couple of years in and the bank changed their conditions and introduced a $600 a year fee (2x $300 for each of the loan holders) to be able to use the offset account I was promised for free. This will cost us an extra $16800 on the life of the loan. I explained this to them and they basically told me to suck it up and there is nothing they can do. Very poor service. I would steer clear of this company!
The TM bank has the worst phone system of any Australian business. A call to them starts with a warning about rude or abusive behaviour. It's as though they have come to expect it. You are directed to a series of automated questions try to steer your query in the right direction. The limited options often will not meet your needs. They have found the most annoying music while you are on hold in the hope that you will simply hang up. After investing an hour on hold, you are compelled to stay on line. Beware though, the phone may hang up if it's too close to closing time. They are the absolute worst. Other institutions have more respect for their customers.
This Bank is appalling in almost every way. Their app never seems to work and I have to reset my access code every time I try to use it. When I try to reset it, it always says "something went wrong". Trying to talk to someone about this or any other issue is impossible. No one ever answers the phone. Go anywhere else for your banking needs if you value your mental health
Twice in 2 weeks the "new" updated app has crashed and the website has been non functional. Unable to log into my account. I spent days trying the get assistance from the 'COSTUMER WE DONT CARE TEAM'. TO BE TOLD we are unable to verify you online. When asked why, the response " it is not our policy to tell you why". Went to the Melbourne branch - 3 hour drive mind you - all was sorted out. NOW 2 weeks later SAME THING AGAIN only this time no one answers to the phone or calls back. I have not been able to access my accounts online or on the app now for almost 72 hours. Monday morning I am back to the Melbourne branch to lose my account then to open a new account at HSBC - TMB you are a joke SEE YA.
Unfortunately today I had a bad and costly experience with TM Bank. I first joined TM Bank in 2000 when they were a smaller credit union. Over the years as they have grown their quality of service has diminished. Today I attempted to make a payment to the globally recognised exchange, Bittrex. TM Bank blocked the transaction then called me to "check it was a legitimate transaction". After I confirmed it was legitimste I was advised by TM Bank to re-do the transaction and "it will go through". And so my troubles began with this, the first of their lies. The transaction did not "go through". I called back to instruct TM Bank to allow my money to be transferred to where I wanted it to go only to be told that the recipient was not accepting it. They tried to convince me that the exchange was not accepting money...Huh? The most silly thing I've heard all day. So, I attempted the same transaction but this time from my Greater Bank account (to which I telegraphically transferred monies across from my TM Bank account. TM Bank even expected an explanation from me as to what this transfer was for). Same amount paid to the same exchange via the same payment method but - key factor - NOT from TM Bank. Lo and behold payment was accepted by the exchange. TM Bank = fail. Greater Bank = success. Despite TM Bank's attept to slander Bittrex, Bittrex is not the problem but TM Bank sure as hell is. Update: 5 hours later, TM Bank still have my payment held as "pending", I cannot access my money and TM Bank continue to lie that they don't have my money while conversely also claiming Bittrex hasn't accepted it either. Someone has it - and it isn't Bittrex or myself.... Meanwhile, I offer to send TM Bank the transaction history from the recipient (Bittrex) showing that Bittrex has attempted to charge the transaction - twice - but was blocked on both occassions. Yes, even after TM Bank claimed they wouldn't block the second attempt. TM Bank say they "don't need" the evidence I have to prove the actual truth of the situation. TM Bank continue to pretend that Bittrex have not tried to charge them for the monies and refuse to release my monies to either the recipient or me! IJust when you think it can't get any worse...TM Bank then ask me to provide them with a letter on letterhead from Bittrex to grant TM Bank authority to release the monies to me. Um, what? T Tryingg ot to sound patronising, I explain that Bittrex can't grant authority to TM Bank to release monies to me that Bittrex don't have because, despite trying to obtain my monies from TM Bank twice TM Bank have declined their requests. Update: Now, 14 hours later, I don't have my money, Bittrex don't have my money and TM Bank tell me they might give it back to me in 5 days or so. Not sure how they can give back what they claim to not have but will have after 5 or so days. So far I have lost just over $3000 in missing the price increase on Bittrex and stand to lose thousands more as TM Bank continue to hold my monies. In 5 days time when my monies miraculously appear back in my practically useless TM Bank account they, and the remainder of my deposits, will be transferred across to my other, fully functioning bank, and I will close down my TM bank account of the past 21 years. 4 days to go...
I have been a member of Teacher’s Mutual Bank for more than 20 years- I joined long ago when they were a small, helpful Credit Union. I am disgusted by their behaviour and ever increasing poor level of service. In addition to my existing personal account I decided to open a separate business account 11 years ago for all of the banking needs of my new small business. During the past 11 years I estimate I have sent more than a million dollars to overseas parts suppliers and from all of this money which the bank has sent in overseas telegraphic transfer payments, they would have made a considerable amount of money out of me in the foreign rate conversion rate fees and charges. TM Bank has benefited greatly in all of the money I have had in my business account yet the one and only time earlier this year that I approached the bank for a short term loan they gave me every excuse under the sun not to give me this loan. The purpose of this loan was to purchase goods from overseas suppliers which my business uses in the manufacture of end user products used by the government. The NSW Government sent me an official purchase order which I gave a copy to the bank as proof and showing the terms of payment. The terms of payment were the usual government terms ie, payment after 30 days of an invoice issued after all goods orders had been supplied. So I only required a short term loan for a maximum of 3 months of 20% of the invoice total I would be paid by the government to cover the upfront purchase costs of the parts and importation and shipping costs- all of which must be paid in advance. I really didn’t expect I would be knocked back for such a small loan especially considering I was to be paid by the NSW Government (NSW Transport) and not some small unknown company. If the NSW Government is not in the strongest financial position to be able to pay for the goods they have requested on an official purchase order then I don’t know who is! TM Bank lied when they gave me the excuse that they are not “set up to provide loans for business purposes”. So I asked then for a personal loan so I could buy the goods I needed for my work. They refused this also saying they could not approve a loan for a business purpose. Yet so why have they been happy to give me a separate business account for the past 11 years (in addition to my personal account) for all of my business banking needs? They are very happy to take your money and use it to their advantage but when it comes to a rare one off occasion helping a customer they don’t want to know you. So their motto “we put you first” is the biggest lie of all. They only put themselves first. This motto used by the bank is false advertising and disgraceful. So I had no choice but to look at other financial institutions and banks to finance my short term 3 month loan. I heard a lot of good reports in the media about satisfied customers of Bendigo Bank so I called them to enquire. It was so pleasant to have a real human being answer the phone in under 30 seconds and to not have to reply to an automated phone message after wasting my precious time battling the menu of different button options on the phone as is the case with TM Bank. I visited my local Bendigo Bank branch and had a meeting with the bank manager. He could not have been more helpful and did all he could to offer me a business loan but also worked out the cheapest option with the lowest fees and charges. I thought that the business overdraft option would suit me and after looking at my situation he decided that in this case a personal loan would be best because I would not have to pay the $800 establishment charge for the business overdraft. So this was a bank who doesn’t know me from a bar of soap yet they approved a personal loan for my business needs while TM Bank whom I have been a business banking customer for more than 11 years didn’t want to help me in this, the only time in more than a decade I needed help due to receiving a much larger than expected government order which I could not finance myself. The overall level of customer service provided by TM Bank has also deteriorated over time as the bank grows bigger. I can remember several years ago and in the days when it was a small friendly credit union a real person would almost instantly answer the phone to answer any customer enquiries. Since becoming Teachers Mutual Bank it is virtually impossible to speak to someone without having to be put on hold- of course this is after wasting time navigating the keypad options. So many times even in the past 12 months I have called the bank only to receive the standard recorded message that all lines are busy and someone will get back to me in what is usually 6 minutes while I am on hold. Several times after waiting on the line for 15 – 20 minutes or longer for a real person to answer the phone and still a recorded message, I have given up and hung up. I have a business to run and work to do and don’t have time to waste when someone tells me my wait is 6 minutes, yet they are still not on the line after quarter of an hour or more. That is unacceptable service in my book. The staff turn-over and transfers are another problem. For several years I could talk to the same staff and they knew my situation well and so could fix any problems quickly. With the changes and growth since becoming a bank, now when I speak to someone on the phone they don’t know me and I never know where the call will be answered whether in Homebush or Rooty Hill branches (as my enquiries were always used to be taken care of in these branches) or to my surprise my issue is dealt with from branches located in Newcastle, Perth or Brisbane. These people in these branches that I haven’t had any dealings with know nothing about me so I have to repeat my entire situation over and over again with new people when the same staff from Homebush Branch who knew me well for many years and provided exceptional service have either left the bank or been transferred to other branches or departments. So while the bank was at one time extremely good (back in the days when they were the smaller friendly Teacher’s Credit Union), for all of the reasons I have outlined above is why this week I walked into Homebush Branch, withdrew all of the money in my business account, closed my business account and took my $160,000 dollars to another bank who provides the service I expect (like Teacher’s Credit Union used to). Teacher’s Mutual Bank is now not much better than the “four big mongrel banks” so if you are thinking of opening an account with TM Bank I hope you will think twice. Suggested new bank motto which is the truth- “We put you last” One last word for anyone contemplating joining TM Bank.....DON"T WASTE YOUR TIME.
Teachers Mutual Bank is a customer-owned financial institution based in Australia, primarily serving members in the education sector and their families. The bank offers a range of financial products including high-interest savings accounts, low-interest loans, and competitive fees, designed to help members manage their finances effectively. With a commitment to ethical banking, Teachers Mutual Bank emphasizes social and environmental performance, making it a preferred choice for individuals seeking a responsible banking option. Targeting under-30s and university students, Teachers Mutual Bank provides specialized savings products such as the Starter Saver account, which offers attractive interest rates for eligible members. As a mutual bank, members benefit from shared profits, ensuring they receive competitive rates and personalized services. The bank is dedicated to building wealth for its members while supporting community initiatives and sustainable practices.
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